There is no better way of travelling than with your bicycle, allowing us to take in our immediate surroundings - a visual extravaganza focusing on arriving at your destination and the emotional experience of the journey. What does exploring the world and travelling to new places by bike mean to you?
ROUVY allows you to do both realistically from your home on your indoor trainer in a truly immersive and realistic cycling experience: You can plan your own exciting virtual tour riding segments of routes on six continents any time you want. You can set a unique goal to complete all the challenges or prepare for these outside routes indoors to get fit and strong enough to manage your dream travel goals in the real world, knowing what the road up ahead looks like and what to expect.
I have chosen and curated a few popular, unusual and beautiful routes in unique locations worldwide so that you can ride and experience the joy of riding virtually to places you may not be able to visit in real life.
Climb the epic Mt. Lemmon In Arizona, USA
Mt. Lemmon is a bucket-list climb in the USA. It is the longest and most famous climb in Arizona because the scenery is spectacular and unique, the road surface is good, and there is little traffic on the 52 km climb. The change in topography is incredible, from desert at the base to pines and aspens at the top. The saguaro cactus, mesquite trees, and varied geology with its unusual rugged hoodoo rock formations make the landscapes here unique.
Mt Lemmon is comparable with the famous passes in the European tours, ranked 33rd on the list of 100 most challenging road bike climbs in the USA, with a rating of either "hors category" on the scale used to rank these in EU. The average gradient of 3.6% and a maximum of 14.9% with 1756m of total ascent makes it challenging.
Mt Lemmon is one to put on your virtual to-do list of climbs in the USA on ROUVY!
Conquer the majestic Sella Ronda in the Dolomites, Italy
The bucket-list Sella Ronda loop, which includes the Compolongo, Pordoi, Sella and Gardena climbs, is a popular cycling destination in the Dolomites in Italy in South Tyrol and Trentino in northeastern Italy. Not only is the region a popular ski destination in the winter, but it is also the Mecca of avid cyclists who cycle the route from Spring to Autumn. With its snaking alpine roads, the towering and majestic Dolomite massifs that tower upwards, create an imposing and majestic backdrop to the idyllic tour ridden either in a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction.
The gradients are not extremely difficult like on the Zoncolan, Motorola or Angliru, but mainly between 8% and 10%, giving you a total ascent of 1800 metres. The roads are mostly in good condition, with numerous hairpin bends and spectacular panoramic views, making for incredible cycling.
Each year, in June and September, one can ride the Sella Ronda Bike Day when the roads are closed off from traffic, and cyclists can have the course to themselves and cycle in an anti-clockwise direction.
In July, one can race the same peaks and others in the Maratona dles Dolomites or Dolomites Marathon, an annual one-day road race aimed at the more experienced cyclists familiar with longer endurance rides and lots of elevation gain. This race attracts well over 9000 participants from 70 different nations.
Three courses are available to ride: a short course of 55km, also called the Sella Ronda loop (see above), a challenging 106 km course with six passes and the notorious 138 km course with eight passes. An advantage of the Maratona is that no matter your route, you start and end at the same place in Corvara. Depending on how you feel, you can be flexible and change your route plan at specific parts of the course.
With a start in a small village called La Villa near Corvara, the event traverses seven to eight famous mountain passes: Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella, Gardena, Campolongo, again, Giau and Falzarego/ Valparola, and all have numerous hairpin bends. The event, known as 'one of the largest, most passionate and chaotic on earth,' has become one of Europe's most important and popular amateur cycling events. Thousands of spectators line the roads, and the riders feel like pros on a grand tour stage with the Italian TV broadcaster RAI covering the event. The well-organised race has plenty of drink stops along the way. Most entrants for this prestigious event ride it to test their limits, physical as well as mental, against the challenging slopes while a few race seriously just to be on the top of the leaderboard.
The historic Cape Point and Table Mountain Nature Reserve in South Africa
Take a scenic ride through the magnificent Cape Point and its National Park reserve to the Cape of Good Hope, a historic headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, and a key tourist attraction.
On False Bay, we start our route outside the 200-year-old naval village of Simons Town, South Africa's most significant maritime base and harbour. Our undulating ride is home to many bird species, including African Penguins, ostrich, zebra, and baboons. Read more about this ROUVY route around Cape Point in this amazing part of the Western Cape on the blog.
Lake Doxa is the Greek jewel of the Corinthians
Our journey takes us next to the area surrounding Lake Doxa, a small paradise in the western Corinthian range on the beautiful Peloponnesian Peninsula, west of Athens. Located on the southern side of Greece, the Peloponnese is the most popular region of the mainland. This place, that geographically has the shape of a leaf, has many famous archaeological sites, seaside points of interest, pristine beaches, castles and ski resorts.The setting is a lovely picture-postcard mountain landscape and an idyllic setting surrounding a beautiful lake.
According to mythical folklore and legend, the village at the foot of Mount Cyllene was Hermes's birthplace, and the area became an important area of worship during the annual Hermaea festival in ancient times. Along the route, you will pass the historic and mysterious St. George Monastery with views through the trees of the lake below. While circumnavigating the lake near the end, you can glimpse the shimmering waters.
Descend the high plateau of Valdresflye to Sjodalsvatnet in Norway
Cycle mostly downhill to the magnificent and panoramic setting of the Øvre Sjodalsvatne and Nedre Sjodalsvatnet Lakes in the Jotunheimen mountain range situated in southern Norway and is part of the long-range known as the Scandinavian Mountains. Also called the Scandes, they lie across the Scandinavian Peninsula, on the sea coast, and are a source of fjords and the site of many glaciers and icefields. The western sides of the mountains drop vertically down into the North Sea and Norwegian Sea, forming the magnificent fjords.
You will descend from the stark and rugged high plateau with incredible views down below of smaller lakes and rivers until you reach the stony shores of the deep blue lakes that extend for 8km with part of the river Sjoa in the municipality of Vågå in Oppland county. You can also ride many of ROUVY's other beautiful virtual routes in Norway.
Meander through the gentle serpentines of the Nockalmstrasse
The Nockalmstrasse route or Nockalm via Eisentalhöhe is a 34 km road between Innerkrems in the north and Ebene Reichenau and nestled in the heart of Austria's Carinthian Alps in the Nockberge National Park. It is a toll road with a smooth surface and almost flawless corners. It is one of the most varied and beautiful alpine roads you can experience on your bike. The picturesque and panoramic road winds through numerous bends and hairpins on gentle gradients. The stunning views and natural scenery are varied, with the largest stone pine forest in the Eastern Alps interspersed with the rounded, lush green summits of the Nockberge and rolling and expansive mountain pastures and meadows.
The Nockberge formed 60 million years ago. Its history is older than any other mountain range in the Eastern Alps and is reflected in the gentle hilltops, called Nocken, which are the rounded peaks and magnificent ridges. One can explore many natural history museums and displays of this rich cultural landscape of the Nockberge.
Just by jumping on the trainer and picking a route somewhere in another location on the planet, you can add excitement and a sense of adventure in the virtual world where you can end the ride feeling invigorated and motivated to travel somewhere else exciting the next time. On ROUVY, you can do that without getting on a plane! The world is your oyster!
Join the Ride the World Challenge, Workouts and Race events, win some fantastic prizes and enjoy a large selection of stunning and unique routes on this beautiful and exciting journey!
